Colleges must be inventive in their search for ways to pay for information technology, says a report from the Institute for Higher Education Policy in Washington.

The report, "Funding the Infostructure," calls for traditional institutions to abandon "patchwork financing" of information technology in favor of better financing plans.

"It's going to take a significant investment from the federal government, in partnership with states and the private sector," says Richard L. Harpel, director of federal relations for higher education at the national Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges.

But higher education must see that holes in the physical infrastructure are plugged, he says.